Interaction Possibilities in MOOCs How Do They Actually Happen?

Hanan KhalilInstructional Technology Department , Faculty of Education ,Mansoura

University, Egypt

Martin EbnerSocial Learning, Information Technology Services, Graz University of

Technology, Steyrergasse 30, A-8010 Graz, Austria

Submission to the 3rd International Conference on Higher Education

Development"Future Visions for Higher Education

Development"

M

O

O

C

Massive

Open

Online

course

MOOC

(MOOC) is an open online course offered for free to anyone who wants to participate and to learn about a specific topic

MOOCs attract millions of online learners from all over the world given the possibility to easily study science, engineering, and humanities subjects delivered by the world’s best professors from Harvard, Stanford, or MIT Without having to pay expensive tuition

Adapting MOOCs by Egyptian universities can be Adapting MOOCs by Egyptian universities can be Adapting MOOCs by Egyptian universities can be Adapting MOOCs by Egyptian universities can be a further step in higher education. MOOCs can a further step in higher education. MOOCs can a further step in higher education. MOOCs can a further step in higher education. MOOCs can provide innovative solutions to problems such provide innovative solutions to problems such provide innovative solutions to problems such provide innovative solutions to problems such asasasas

• Over-crowded classrooms• High prices of traditional educational books• Transportation problem• Need for continued education and specialized training.

MOOCsMOOCsMOOCsMOOCs will bring teaching to multitudes of will bring teaching to multitudes of will bring teaching to multitudes of will bring teaching to multitudes of students who otherwise wouldnstudents who otherwise wouldnstudents who otherwise wouldnstudents who otherwise wouldn’’’’t have access t have access t have access t have access to it.to it.to it.to it.

Why are MOOCs becoming popular?

The online experience is constantly improving as technology continue to

evolve

The increasing costs of higher education force some to look for less expensive alternatives

MOOCs allow participants to build professional and personal skill sets in

their own time

Famous MOOCs

Coursera

Famous MOOCsEdx

Famous MOOCsUdacity

Famous MOOCsUdemy

Famous MOOCs

KhanAcademy

One of the key components of good teaching in MOOCs is the intellectually stimulating exchange of ideas, those meaningful interactions that occur between student and student, student and instructor, and student and content

Though the importance of online interaction in MOOCs, there are no recommended guidelines or overview for online interaction in MOOCs. In addition, there is a lacking of research on this topic. That's why the present study addresses this research gap and gives apractical overview of interaction in MOOCs

three specific research questions are raised for this

study:• What are the interactions (discussions) in MOOCs

about?• How do the three types of interaction “students

to student”, “student to instructor”, and “student to content” according to (Moore, 1989) take place in MOOCs?

• Which type of interaction is the most used one in MOOCs?

Research questions

Results and discussions

What are the interactions (discussions) in MOOCs about?

GeneralDiscussionGeneralDiscussion

Study groupsStudy groups

lectureslectures

assignmentsassignments

technical feedbacktechnical feedback

How do the three types of interaction “students to student”, “student to instructor”, and “student to content”

according to (Moore, 1989) take place in MOOCs?

20%246Meet up

80%624Discussion group

100%030Social networks

Percentageof usage

Course notusing

Course using

Ways in which student to student interaction happened

Student to student interaction

20%246Activities and Submitting projects

60%1218Quizzes and tests

80%624Homework assignments

Percentageof usage

Course notusing

Course using

Ways in which student to student interaction happened

Student to content interaction

20%246Ask and answer questions

20%246Participate in online discussion with students

20%246Guides

30%1812Announcements

Percentageof usage

Course notusing

Course using

Ways in which student to student interaction happened

Student to instructor interaction

Which type of interaction is the most used one in MOOCs?

1

2

3

Since “student to instructor”interaction is missed in MOOCs, future studies should be carried out to suggest more strategies and instructional activities that promote and enhance MOOCs “student to instructor”interactions.

In addition, future researches should be done to employ using MOOCs in Egyptian universities in order to provide innovative solutions to problems such as over-crowded classrooms, high prices of traditional educational books, transportation problems, need for continued education, and specialized training .